Tuesday, 4 April 2017

#AtoZChallenge: The Princess and the Charmed Chandelier

“This is straight out of the Beauty and the Beast, dude,” he said, folding his arms and trying to act cool.

Princess Carmen continued walking.

“Wait, wait up. Aren’t you amazed that the chandelier is singing?” He scrambled after her as she approached the opposite door.

“Him? He sings all the time. I’d be more amazed if he could shut up.” Her eyes flicked up with a glare at the Charmed Chandelier who was belting “Be Our Guest” at the top of his voice.

“Be nice, Princess,” the Charmed Chandelier interrupted his own song to reprimand her. “It’s not as if I have anything else to do.”

Princess Carmen rolled her eyes. “CC, you’re noisy. And you don’t even sing in tune.”

A hurt huff came from the direction of the ceiling. Prince Paul and Princess Carmen exited the ballroom, having only used it as a shortcut. As the door closed behind them, Paul could hear the chandelier starting to sing again, in a wobbly sort of voice.

“Um, Carmen, I do think that was a little mean. I think you’ve made him cry.”

An almost-apologetic look crossed her face. The next second, however, she said harshly, “He’ll get over it.”

They were almost at the front door when Prince Paul asked, “How did he get that way?”

To his surprise, Princess Carmen started crying. “It’s… it’s all my fault! I was… I mean, everyone was away, and there was this knock on the door, and I let this old magician in. He looked like a nice old man! I mean, he wasn’t creepy or anything. So I let him in and we were in the kitchens and there was this… this flare.”

“Flare of what?” Prince Paul asked after a while when Princess Carmen didn’t continue.

“Magic. Or something. I don’t know. I think I fainted. When I got up again, the magician was gone, and the… and the chandelier was charmed.” Princess Carmen pulled the door open. “Let’s not talk about it.”

He followed her out of the castle, round the fountain, down the long driveway, past the tall sentinel trees, crossing into the flower garden before he spoke up again. “So how do you release him from the enchantment?”

“I don’t know.”

“What caused the enchantment?”

“I… don’t know.”

“How do you even know it was the old man who did it?”

“I… Look, Paul, I don’t know!”

“And you’re just not going to ask and leave the poor thing charmed like that? Singing Beauty and the Beast songs because he’s bored?”

Carmen stomped her foot. “What do you want me to do?”

“Talk to him! Maybe he knows how to get out of it and he just needs some help.”

“He would have said something earlier, don’t you think?”

Paul jut his chin out obstinately. “Not if you aren’t even listening to him.”

Carmen rolled her eyes and huffed. “Fine. So, who are you really? And how did you get there?”

“Me? I’m just a Charmed Chandelier, hanging in the ballroom. That’s all I’ve ever been. I believe some workmen hung me here.”

Carmen scowled. “So you’re not the magician.”

“Oh no. Definitely not. Have never been human. Would never want to be.”

Carmen looked over at Paul helplessly. “Then why are you able to talk? And sing?”

“That’s what all this is about? How I got to be charmed?”

“Yes,” Paul replied. “Carmen thought it was her fault and she just wouldn’t even ask you about it. Is there any way we can break the enchantment?”

CC hummed to himself briefly, breaking out into a chuckle. “No, not really. I was just a freak of magic, really. All the old man wanted to do was to animate some cutlery to amuse the young princess who was so kind to him. But his hand slipped and he let out a larger blast of magic than he intended… resulting in me. He was so freaked out that he ran away as soon as he could.”

About Me

Anna likes to believe that she has something to say. Most times though, those "somethings" stay locked in her private little brain, echoing in its emptiness until it one day breaks out into a deluge of whiny rants on her blog.